of Abita Brewing Co.

All About Beer Magazine - Volume 35, Issue 6
January 6, 2015 By

Jaime Jurado AbitaJaime Jurado at a glance

Director of Brewing Operations, Abita Brewing Co.

Years brewing: since 1983 full time.

Go-to beer from another brewery: Trumer Pils.

Beer that inspired him to brew: Tuborg Gold brewed in Baltimore was the beer, yet it was Chesbay Gold and Amber created by Wolfgang Roth that opened my eyes to artisanal brewing, as much as Ken and Paul at Sierra Nevada and Don Barclay’s Mendocino Brewery. … I was so lucky to visit both of their breweries in 1985: the archetypal lager craft brewery of the East and we-can-build-anything ale frankenbreweries on the West Coast. And what I saw frightened me because it was safer to live in the world of scale and existing infrastructure, with dedicated maintenance, admin, packaging management, etc. positions around.

He couldn’t live without: MacBook Pro laptop; 30 years ago the answer would have been my 21-speed Trek bicycle.

Favorite place to have a beer: Augustiner Keller, Munich … or wherever my (Bavarian) mentors Dr. Peter Hellich and Dr. Ulrich Ost might be.

Wishes he could buy a round for: my long-departed professor of physical chemistry, Gilbert Castellan, and hopefully soon will hoist a jar or two with my postgrad professor of clinical biochemistry, Peter Esnouf.

Biggest passion besides brewing: my family, the families of brewing friends, and my professional organizations: MBAA, BA, ACS and AIChE.

Keeping him up at night: what I didn’t achieve during the day!

Brewery Profile

Abita Brewing Co.

Abita Springs, LA

abita.com

Founded: 1986

Annual Production: 160,000 barrels, not including brewed root beer.

Availability: 42 states and eight countries